Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy Stress Relief

Admin — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 01:36:00 GMT

Are you stressed? Aromatherapy can be a tremendous help in stress relief. We are all faced with stress at some point in our lives. Controlling it is crucial in your overall health and well being.

If handled inappropriately, stress can be devastating. Stress lowers your resistance and makes you more vulnerable to illness and disease. It can also be mentally crippling.

Aromatherapy is a technique that uses the body’s sense of smell to help boost your mood, relieve stress, energize and encourage better health.

Essential Oils for Stress Relief

Below are essential oils helpful in the relief of certain stress related problems. Try adding a few drops of a related essential oil to a cotton ball and inhaling.

Anxiety: Lavender, Geranium, Palma rosa, Jonquil, bergamot, Chamomile, Basil, Cypress, Frankincense, Geranium Jasmine, Juniper, Melissa, Neroli, Ylang ylang
depression/Guilt: Jasmine, Geranium, Lavender, Bergamot, Neroli, Nutmeg, Clary sage, Grapefruit, Sandalwood, Ylang ylang, Rose, Vetiver
Helplessness: Grapefruit, Rosemary, Lavender, Pettigraine, Neroli
Insomnia/Restlessness: Marjoram, Lemon, Vetiver, Valerian, Rose, Sandalwood, Chamomile, Neroli, Ylang ylang
Irritability/Nervous Tension: Sandalwood, Pettigraine, Clary sage, Lavender, Bergamot, Cedarwood, Cinnamon, Frankincense, Palma rosa, Vetiver, Jasmine, Ylang ylang
Tiredness/Exhaustion: Peppermint, Rosemary, Jasmine, Basil, Cinnamon, Lemon, Clary sage, Lavender, Nutmeg, Sandalwood, Rose, Vetiver, Geranium

Aromatherapy Stress Relief Blends

You can try the following aromatherapy blend to relieve the mental fatigue you might experience after a long day at work or when you’re just plain tired of thinking and want to drift away to a peaceful place...

Patchouli (5 drops)
Geranium (20 drops)
Bergamot (10 drops)
Lavender (5 drops)
Ylang ylang (10 drops)

Mix the above oils in 5 ounces of Sweet Almond carrier oil. Add it to your hot bath and relax. It’s also great as a massage blend.

Counting sheep and still can’t sleep? If you’re suffering from stress related insomnia try this essential oil blend:

Marjoram (9 drops)
Lemon (14 drops)

Add the above oils to an aromatherapy diffuser and let the scents work their magic to send you off to a peaceful sleep.

Depression and Aromatherapy

Admin — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 01:26:00 GMT

Aromatherapy is particularly effective in dealing with stress, depression and stress related disorders. 'Depression' is a term which encompasses a wide spectrum of psychic problems ans symtoms which, in turn, can lead to more serious illnesses. Aromatherapy, in helping to relax the patient and by reducing stress, may actually help to prevent such conditions. Depression related disorders, such as digestive problems, stress and other mental problems, can be treated by Aromatherapy. As depression is reduced, there is a corresponding improvement in sleep patterns and energy levels.

Aromatherapy is an alternative theatment that uses the highly concentrated essential oils that are extracted from plants to treat symptoms and assist in the healing process.

Aromatherapy can help in mild forms of depression. It may ease mental fatigue and help with sleep. Essential oils can help to lighten and uplift ones mood. Just the right blend applied in massages, baths, diffusers and personal perfumes can all be helpful at such times. However, if you, or someone you know, are severely depressed, additional support and therapy are necessary. Aromatherapy is more effective when used as a Complementary therapy, assisting other therapies.

There is very little evidence for all the claims made by aromatherapists regarding the various healing properties of oils. The use of aromatherapy can be seen as part of a lifestyle choice -- a lifestyle that allows for pleasure because a moment of pleasure is healing.

How to cure depression with aromatherapy?

Studies with brain wave frequency has shown that smelling lavender increases alpha waves in the back of the head, which are associated with relaxation. Fragrance of Jasmine increases beta waves in the front of the head, which are associated with a more alert state.

These aromatherapy oils are helpful in curing depression:

Aromatherapy is aimed at revitalizing the body and mind while lifting your spirits. Aromatherapy will aid in promoting a sense of well being. Aromatherapy is also known for easing mental fatigue and insomnia. When you use these wonderful essential oils in the correct blend for massages, baths, diffusers and even personal perfumes you will begin to benefit from the use of aromatherapy. Using aromatherapy for depression will give you the peace of mind and the well being that you need. You will enjoy the uplifting feeling that will rid your life of depression.

Clary Sage essential oil - It is used in treating insomnia, anxiety and depression.
Basil Basil essential oil - is used to lift fatigue, anxiety and depression.
Rose essential oil - Rose is great on the entire nervous system and disorders
Ylang-ylang - A great relaxer anxiety, depression and Insomnia.
Sandalwood - Sandalwood's sedative properties are good for treating depression and tension.
Lavender - Lavender essential oil is used for nervous system disorders such as depression, headache, hypertension, insomnia, migraine, nervous tension, stress related conditions.
Jasmine essential oil - Jasmine increase the beta waves in the front of the head which can give you a more alert and responsive state of mind.

Safety and Warnings:

As Aromatherapy is an alternative treatment, inform your Doctor before starting it because it may cause some side effects also. This is a general guide only, for the treatment of persistent problems, seek advice of a qualified aromatherapist. Chronic depression conditions should be referred to a medical practioner.

Aromatherapy Basics - Learn about aromatherapy, history and origin of aromatherapy, uses and benefits of aromatherapy & many other information on aromatherapy.

Aromatherapy for Insomnia Know about various essential oils used in treating Insomnia.

Learning Aromatherapy Massage - Essential Oils Massage

What are Essential Oils? How Essential Oils and aromatherapy work? The vital element in any Aromatherapy treatment is the pure essential oil. An essential oil is an aromatic, volatile substance extracted from a single botanical source by distillation

Definition

Admin — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:49:00 GMT

Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine that uses volatile liquid plant materials, known as essential oils (EOs), and other aromatic compounds from plants for the purpose of affecting a person's mood or health. Scientific evidence is weak and preliminary but mildly encouraging for a limited number of claims. Essential oils differ in chemical composition from other herbal products because the distillation process only recovers the lighter phytomolecules. For this reason essential oils are rich in monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, as well as other VOC substances (esters, aromatic compounds, non-terpene hydrocarbons, some organic sulfides etc.).

Aromatherapy is a generic term that refers to any of the various traditions that make use of essential oils sometimes in combination with other alternative medical practices and spiritual beliefs. Popular use of these products include massaging products, medicine, or any topical application that incorporates the use of essential oils to their products. It has a particularly Western currency and persuasion. Medical treatment involving aromatic compounds may exist outside of the West, but may or may not be included in the term 'aromatherapy'.

Theory

Admin — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:22:00 GMT

Aromatherapy is the treatment or prevention of disease by use of essential oils. Two basic mechanisms are offered to explain the purported effects. One is the influence of aroma on the brain, especially the limbic system through the olfactory system. The other is the direct pharmacological effects of the essential oils. While precise knowledge of the synergy between the body and aromatic oils is often claimed by aromatherapists, the efficacy of aromatherapy remains to be proven. However, some preliminary clinical studies show positive effects.

In the English-speaking world, practitioners tend to emphasize the use of oils in massage. Aromatherapy tends to be regarded as a complementary modality at best and a pseudoscientific fraud at worst.

On the continent, especially in France, where it originated, aromatherapy is incorporated into mainstream medicine. There, the use of the antiseptic, antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial properties of oils in the control of infections is emphasized over the approaches familiar to North Americans. In France some essential oils are regulated as prescription drugs, and thus administered by a physician. French doctors use a technique called the aromatogram to guide their decision on which essential oil to use. First the doctor cultures a sample of infected tissue or secretion from the patient. Next the growing culture is divided among petri dishes supplied with agar. Each petri dish is inoculated with a different essential oil to determine which have the most activity against the target strain of microorganism. The antiseptic activity manifests as a pattern of inhibited growth.

In many countries essential oils are included in the national pharmacopoeia, but up to the present moment aromatherapy as science has never been recognized as a valid branch of medicine in the United States, Russia, Germany, or Japan.

Essential oils, phytoncides and other natural VOCs work in different ways. At the scent level they activate the limbic system and emotional centers of the brain. When applied to the skin (commonly in form of "massage oils" i.e. 1-10% solutions of EO in carrier oil) they activate thermal receptors, and kill microbes and fungi. Internal application of essential oil preparations (mainly in pharmacological drugs; generally not recommended for home use apart from dilution - 1-5% in fats or mineral oils, or hydrosoles) may stimulate the immune system.

Materials

Admin — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:04:00 GMT

Some of the materials employed include:

Essential oils: Fragrant oils extracted from plants chiefly through steam distillation (e.g. eucalyptus oil) or expression (grapefruit oil). However, the term is also occasionally used to describe fragrant oils extracted from plant material by any solvent extraction.
Absolutes: Fragrant oils extracted primarily from flowers or delicate plant tissues through solvent or supercritical fluid extraction (e.g. rose absolute). The term is also used to describe oils extracted from fragrant butters, concretes, and enfleurage pommades using ethanol.
Phytoncides: Various volatile organic compounds from plants that kill microbes. Many terpene-based fragrant oils and sulfuric compounds from plants in the genus "Allium" are phytoncides, though the latter are likely less commonly used in aromatherapy due to their disagreeable odors.
Herbal distillates or hydrosols: The aqueous by-products of the distillation process (e.g. rosewater). There are many herbs that make herbal distillates and they have culinary uses, medicinal uses and skin care uses. Common herbal distillates are rose, lemon balm and chamomile.
Infusions: Aqueous extracts of various plant material (e.g. infusion of chamomile)
Carrier oils: Typically oily plant base triacylglycerides that dilute essential oils for use on the skin (e.g. sweet almond oil)